


Imperfections

by notjustmom



Series: Ironstrange [56]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, M/M, peter is their adopted son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 13:00:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19992625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: Tony, Stephen and Peter visit the beach.





	Imperfections

**Author's Note:**

> I visited the beach for the first time in over thirty years today with my kids. This started writing itself as I sat in the water picking up bits of seashells.

Tony watched from his beach chair as Stephen and Peter walked into the ocean, side by side. The five year old squealed in joy as the first wave tickled his toes and he could hear Stephen laugh as they both jumped over the next wave together.

He remembered going to the beach as a boy, and being terrified of the water. His father had loved the ocean, and couldn’t understand his son’s irrational fear, of course, he saw it as another flaw. 

As he watched Peter tumble backwards into the sand with a giggle of delight, he realized that even as a child, his logic driven mind couldn’t make sense of the complete randomness of the waves. He would instead, spend hours with his mother picking out the most perfect of seashells; the limpets and coquinas, which he had called butterflies, the sand dollars, his personal favorite. Once they were lucky enough to find a starfish. 

Now, as he reached down into the sand that surrounded him, he picked up a bit of a striped shell, buffeted by the sand and water over years, perhaps decades, and ran his thumb over it. It was of the softest orange and smooth as glass. It wasn’t perfect, it no longer served a purpose, as a home for a sea creature, but as he slipped it into his pocket, it reminded him that he too still had a purpose, even as broken as he felt at times.

He stood up and slipped off his flip flops, then walked down to the edge of the water and closed his eyes as he felt the tide pull him towards the unknown. When he opened his eyes again, his hands were held tightly by his husband and son, waiting for him to take the next step.


End file.
